The Fat Angel Sings

On the narcotic, down-tempo synth-punk of ‘Consolation Prize’, Jared Artaud says: “In the beginning of any relationship you can really lose yourself in another person. There’s something inherently infinite, but also terribly fleeting about love. This duality of will it last forever or will it last for now. You start off reaching for the stars and end up thinking life is your consolation prize. Then there is the music, which is like slow dancing on Benzos. Music for loners and lovers.”

“Consolation Prize” leans into the spacious and gothic side of post punk, building on top of abstract synth drones, minimalist percussion, and marching wiry bursts of guitar” Under The Radar

Later this month The Vacant Lots will be hitting the road for a US tour with The Black Angels over Sep-Oct followed by UK & Europe dates in Nov-Dec.

the latest single to be lifted from The Vacant Lots’ new album ‘Closure’, out September 30th on Fuzz Club Records

Tom Petty – “American Girls” (Limited Edition 12-Inch Album on Red Vinyl), Get a stunning performance from Tom Petty on vibrant colour vinyl with this limited edition release. Captured at Dean’s Dome, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on 13th September 1989, this is an unmissable example of Petty and the Heartbreakers at his live best. 

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making Tom one of the best-selling music artists of all time. However, Tom Petty was first and foremost a live performer, which is illustrated wonderfully here as he powers through a stirring set that, of course, features the all-time classic track “Free Fallin’.

After the success of their Southern Accents tour (1985), Bob Dylan asked Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers if they would join him on his next tour, which would feature Petty and the band playing their own songs, as well as serving as Bob’s back-up band on the Dylan songs. In 1986 they toured all over with Dylan, performing as both headliners and back-up band to the legend. Then in 1987, they released the next Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album, “Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)” featuring the single ‘Jammin’ Me’, and a subsequent tour of their own. After this, Tom took a bit of a break from the Heartbreakers and worked on other projects, including the Traveling Wilburys in 1988 and his first solo album, “Full Moon Fever” (1989). Petty then continued to work with Jeff Lynne as producer (and co-writer and performer) for his solo album, which although was not a Heartbreakers album, did have Mike Campbell also playing on all the tracks, as well as the rest of the the Heartbreakers (except drummer Stan Lynch) contribute parts to various songs, as well as other musicians, including Harrison and Orbison. Petty took this opportunity to explore more of his musical roots and styles, as well as some more gentle and introspective songs, deviating somewhat from the Heartbreakers Rock sound, and Lynne’s production also gave it more of a glossier pop sound.

The album, “Full Moon Fever“, was a huge success, one of the greatest of Petty’s career, and produced such Petty classics as ‘I Won’t Back Down’, ‘Free Fallin’, and ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’. However, some of the Heartbreakers (especially Stan Lynch) were not too happy to be playing these solo Petty tracks at Heartbreakers shows, as they were not “their” songs and it made them feel a bit like a cover band. But the subsequent tour was another major success, and the ‘solo’ songs soon became a fixture of all subsequent Heartbreakers shows. 

Here we have a combination of a couple great shows from the “Full Moon Fever” tour. The first, a great FM recording from North Carolina features some of the new songs from both “Let Me Up” and “Full Moon Fever”, and of special note is the middle section with new acoustic renditions of ‘Even the Losers’, ‘Listen to Her Heart’, and the rarely subsequently played ‘Face in the Crowd’ (in an absolutely beautiful version). Other highlights are the rarely performed ‘Something Big’ from “Hard Promises” and a new, more rockin’ arrangement of ‘Don’t Come Around Here No More’ (perhaps how The Heartbreakers would have recorded it without Dave Stewart producing?).

Track List: 1. Bye Bye Johnny 2. Damage You’ve Done 3. Breakdown 4. Free Fallin 5. The Waiting 6. Benmont Boogie 7. Don’t Come Around Here No More 8. Southern Accents 9. Even the Losers 10. Listen to the Heart 11. A Face in the Crowd 12. Something Big 13. I Won’t Back Down 14. I Need to Know 15. Refugee 16. Running Down a Dream

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Chapel Hill, NC – September 13th 1989.

Please join us in welcoming Mo Troper to the Lame-O Family! Mo is a power pop savant. A truly phenomenal songsmith and writer – we feel so fortunate to have his records on our proverbial (and literal) record shelf. Hell – I feel fortunate to be living when this perfect upside-down pop music is being crafted. Releasing it is just the cherry on top of the cake. Yesterday we released a highly entertaining music video for the single “I Fall Into Her Arms” from his upcoming album ‘MTV.’ .

Paste Magazine premiered the video, calling the track “the arguable center piece and ideal first preview of “MTV”, It’s a jangle-pop gem about the tangle of fear and joy that is loving someone. The 94-second track opens on Troper spiraling out…” the video “what you might see if you got hit with Scarecrow’s fear gas while watching colorized clips from The Ed Sullivan Show”

Plains made up of the duo of Jess Williamson and Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield have shared a new video for their new song “Abilene,” featuring Adriene Mishler of Yoga With Adriene fame. It’s the second single from Plains’ debut LP “I Walked With You a Ways”. 

Of the new song, Crutchfield said in a statement:  The song “Abilene” really solidified the vision of the album for me. I’ll never forget how giddy I felt when Jess sent me the original demo. In a very stereotypical-of-a-songwriter way, Jess felt unsure if it fit or made sense and I reassured her immediately that this was probably my favourite song of the bunch.

She achieved something really special in my view, which is writing a classic country waltz that feels extremely modern.

Williamson added:  In the video for “Abilene,” my dear friend Adriene Mishler plays the narrator of the song. We see her struggle in the final stages of a romantic relationship and then make the hard decision to choose herself and leave. I think we all have our own personal “Abilene.” Maybe it’s a place where you used to live and things didn’t turn out as planned, like in the song. It could also be a relationship that ended in disappointment, or a dream that turned into a hard reality, or even an old version of yourself that’s better left in the past. “Abilene” is a song about knowing your worth, having courage in the face of an uncertain future, and trusting your gut.

Katie Crutchfield – Lead and Harmony Vocals, Acoustic Guitar Jess Williamson – Lead and Harmony Vocals, Acoustic Guitar Brad Cook – Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Wurlitzer, Mellotron, Bass Phil Cook – Piano, Wurlitzer, Organ, Dobro, Banjo, Electric Slide Spencer Tweedy – Drums, Percussion Andrew Marlin – Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar Libby Rodenbough – Fiddle Alex Farrar – Electric Guitar

Plains shared the single “Problem With It” earlier this summer. Waxahatchee released her last LP, “Saint Cloud”, in 2020; Jess Willamson’s album “Sorceress” dropped that same year.

Plains from the album ‘I Walked With You A Ways’, available October 14th

Naima Bock has released a new live video performance of her song “Campervan.” The live rendition of the single was recorded with the Institute Collective, a contemporary choral ensemble founded by producer Hughie Gavin. The video, which was shot at Waverley House in Margate, England, finds Bock, violinist Oliver Hamilton, and the Institute Collective standing against whitewashed brick as they perform the song.

“It was a real pleasure to work with the Institute Collective, we had a beautiful day meeting all of the singers, arrangers, and crew,” Bock shared in a statement. “There was a very special energy whilst filming and the more we sang together, the better it got. I’m delighted to release this video and to have worked with such a talented bunch.”

“Campervan” was included on Bock’s debut album “Giant Palm”, which was released in July via Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction. The band will head out on tour in September, performing at End of the Road Festival in Dorset, England and Dun Laoghaire Folk Festival in Dublin, Ireland before making their way across mainland Europe and back through the United Kingdom.

The album “Pearl” saw Janis Joplin working with a strong set of songs, plus a tight band in The Full Tilt Boogie Band, and a simpatico producer in Paul Rothchild. She may not have known she was making a masterpiece, but there was no disguising how well the sessions were going. They came to the most abrupt end possible, however, on October 4th, 1970, when Joplin died of a heroin overdose at the age of just 27. A few months later, “Pearl” was released, and while her death couldn’t help but overshadow it, over the years that shadow has receded.

The album has a more polished feel than the albums she recorded with Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Kozmic Blues Band due to the expertise of producer Paul A. Rothchild and her new backing musicians. Rothchild was best-known as the recording studio producer of The Doors, and worked well with Joplin, calling her a producer’s dream. Together they were able to craft an album that showcased her extraordinary vocal talents. The album was more than just a final statement, it sealed Joplin’s place as the best female singer of blues and rock ‘n’ roll of her era, and in “Me and Bobby McGee” it contained her signature song, one that still feels good to hear on the radio.

“Pearl” has been mined for covers, not just by artists looking to salute Joplin, but by artists looking for good songs. As you’ll soon see, they found what they were looking for.

All nine tracks that she sings on were personally approved and arranged by Joplin. “Pearl” features the No1 hit “Me and Bobby McGee”, on which she played acoustic guitar, written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster; “Trust Me”, by Bobby Womack, written for Joplin; Howard Tate’s “Get It While You Can”, showcasing her vocal range; and the original songs “Move Over” and “Mercedes Benz”, the latter co-written by Joplin, Bobby Neuwirth, and Michael McClure.

Who was the most successful British group in the ’70s? Based on sales of singles, it’s Slade. This may come as a surprise in America, where Slade never quite snagged that brass ring, but their big hooks and good-hearted sleaze won and kept them fans in the rest of the world. They did a cover of “Pearl‘s” opening track “Move Over” for the BBC; it got such a good reaction that they recorded another version for their “Slayed?” album. Here’s the BBC take, loud and clear and making you want to move.

“Cry Baby” is the first of two Garnet Mimms covers on “Pearl” Mimms, still alive as of this writing, was no doubt grateful for Joplin’s willingness to tear up her larynx on this one. 1978’s Natalie… Live! saw Natalie Cole further proving there was more to her than being the near-namesake of her father. She blasted out her own take of “Cry Baby” to an adoring crowd, and in doing so left no doubt as to whom the stage and the song belonged on that night.

There are those who saw Maggie Bell as the Scottish version of Janis Joplin. Interestingly, her cover of “A Woman Left Lonely” doesn’t see her trying to match or top Joplin’s “Pearl” take. Instead, she goes prettier, if still powerful. It works, too, as Bell lifts her heart and soul heavenward rather than squeezing it tight.

“Rufusized”, was the second album funk band Rufus & Chaka Khan released in 1974, saw the Chicago band kicking ass and taking names if not prisoners. Their work on “Half Moon” shows them traveling the length of the song like they were painted to it, taking curves and hills with no loss of speed and double the thrill that comes from hearing a band at the top of its game.

“Pearl‘s” lone instrumental wasn’t supposed to be so; Janis was scheduled to sing “Buried Alive in the Blues” the day after she was found dead. The song’s author, Nick Gravenites, was asked to deliver a vocal as a tribute, but he said no, so the backing track was left as is. But the song does have lyrics, and it has been covered with them; one of the better covers came via Paul Butterfield’s Better Days, with Geoff Muldaur picking up what Janis never got the chance to put down. He later sang the song with Joplin’s former band Big Brother and the Holding Company for their 1971 album “How Hard It Is“. 

The Yardbirds were winding down in 1968, with guitarist Jimmy Page setting out his Zeppelin table, but they still had viable music in them. One example was “My Baby.” They recorded this a couple years before Joplin did; theirs was one of a very few Garnet Mimms covers that could betray no Janis influence.

Spoilt for choices on the song “Me and Bobby McGee,” as you can imagine. Big names had recorded the Kris Kristofferson song both before Joplin (Gordon Lightfoot, Kenny Rogers) and after her (Olivia Newton-John, the Grateful Dead). But nobody could have made it their own the way Jerry Lee Lewis did. Barrelling over and through the song, the Killer crams his name into the lyrics as much as he can, his hands working the keyboard like it was a weaving loom. By the end, he’s worked up a thirst, but he never broke a sweat.

The last song Joplin recorded, “Mercedes Benz” saw her accompanied only by a click track. Taj Mahal begins his cover by discarding even that. Then he starts the second verse with a bluesy guitar. By the time the drums and tuba show up, the song’s been filled up–not just with more music, but with a feeling of both despair and untrammelled hope.

Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” was an accident. The song’s lyrics were written at a Port Chester, N.Y., bar in August 1970 during an impromptu poetry jam between Joplin and songwriter-friend Bob Neuwirth. The lyrics—a sardonic prayer for a sports car, a colour TV and a night on the town—were inspired by the first line of a song written by San Francisco beat poet Michael McClure.

About an hour after the song was completed in Port Chester, Joplin performed it a cappella on a whim when she took the stage at the town’s Capitol Theatre. “Mercedes Benz” was the last song Janis recorded. Three days later I found her body in her room at the Landmark Motor Hotel. She had overdosed on heroin that was way stronger than street heroin had any right to be. For the next few days, everyone was in shock. That Thursday, Paul Rothchild played for us everything he had on tape. It was almost an album. Paul and the band worked for another 10 days to create the best instrumental tracks to go with the existing vocals. Although she had sung “Mercedes Benz” a cappella, Paul knew we had to use it as is.

Bobby Womack, who wrote “Trust Me,” also plays acoustic guitar on the “Pearl” track. Neither he nor Janis introduced it to the world – Jackie DeShannon got there first, on 1968’s “Laurel Canyon“. (Womack’s own take wasn’t released until 1975.) Another version was recorded by Larrington Walker, easily the least-known name in this post; he was a British actor who’d immigrated from Kingston, Jamaica when he was ten years old. His biggest claim to fame was starring in Maxell’s famous “My Ears Are Alight” commercial. He also recorded a single, on which “Trust Me” was the B-side. Considering how well he’d reworked it, I wish he’d done more.

“Pearl‘s” grand finale, “Get It While You Can” was a Howard Tate cover. Tate was a bandmate of Garnet Mimms, who introduced him to Jerry Ragovoy, the man who cowrote both of “Pearl‘s” Mimms songs as well as Tate’s. On Chris Cornell’s posthumous covers collection “No One Sings Like You Anymore”, the song opens the album rather than closing it, and it serves as a clarion call to his listeners. Cornell was nearly twice as old as Joplin when he died at 52, but like her, he was another talent gone far too soon.

In 1993 Columbia Records reissued the album on 24kt gold CD as part of their MasterSound series, this edition was remastered by Vic Anesini using the Super Bit Mapping process. In 1999 it was remastered again for the “Box Of Pearls” box set, this version was also mastered by Vic Anesini, it included four previously unreleased live recordings from the Festival Express Tour, recorded on July 4th, 1970, as bonus tracks; it was also released as a standalone release. A two-disc Legacy Edition was released on June 14th, 2005, with six bonus tracks including a birthday message to John Lennon of “Happy Trails,” and a reunion of the Full Tilt Boogie Band in an instrumental tribute to Joplin. The second disc included an expanded set from the Festival Express Tour, recorded between June 28th and July 4th, 1970. The album was again reissued again in 2012 as “The Pearl Sessions“. It contains the original album, six mono mixes, two live tracks and alternate takes of the songs that constituted the “Pearl” vinyl album when Columbia Records released it in 1971. Recordings of Joplin and Paul Rothchild talking between takes give the listener insight into their creative musical process.

I wonder if Janis knew she was recording a masterpiece at the time. I doubt it, but this her 4th & final album is not only her best but one of the best classic rock albums of all-time. here Janis has the perfect blend of blues, pop, folk & rock in the performance & choice of songs to complement her always extraordinary voice. the Full-Tilt Boogie Band play with tasteful restraint, not needing to overplay to prove their chops foreshadowing quality playing such as Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers.

The closing song “Get It While You Can” is a fitting epitaph given Janis’ untimely death. I mourn the loss of what could have been had Janis lived. she finally found her musical balance but unfortunately died before she could have created more. So grateful that she left us with a perfect album.

It takes some guts to cover songs as venerated as the ones on Valerie June’s Under Cover. As in, either you delude yourself if you think you can add to, or better, any the myriad other versions, let alone the originals. Or you are pretty damn good. Self-belief is certainly part the job and Valerie June has that in spades. She has the talent in spades as well.

You may have heard her name, maybe even some of her material, possibly whilst listening to a blues station on the radio. Or a country music station. Or pop, R&B, or folk. Gospel, even. For she straddles each of these genres, a woman of colour from Tennessee, exposed to all and comfortable with each. Following self-releasing her first couple of recordings, she was spotted by Black Key Dan Auerbach, who, no mean gauge of talent, co-produced her 2013 eponymous label debut, which introduced her to a broader and welcoming audience, at home and worldwide. Europe has been especially supportive. Ahead of this, and also worthy of mention, is an EP she released

independently, credited to Valerie June and the Tennessee Express. The Tennessee Express were Old Crow Medicine Show.

There have been a couple of albums since, each well-received, if remaining hard to classify under any one genre, perhaps explaining the changes of record label along the way. Fantasy Records demonstrate their faith by issuing this EP, on the back of last year’s album “The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers”, which had also been on this label.

I have heard many a “Pink Moon,” and I think this is the most beguiling I have heard in many a blue one. June’s double tracked vocal sashays over a piano backing, and it is a world apart the many guitar-based iterations. Quite lovely, it is promising start. Dave Sherman’s sympathetic piano is also all over “Fade Into You,” with whines of Dan Lead’s steel seeping between June’s altogether sassier-than-Hope vocal. It becomes a song of lascivious intent. So far, we’re two for two.

Next up, on this cross-genre trip across the record store, is a sumptuous version of Gillian Welch’s “Look at Miss Ohio.” Here, steel and organ are the most prominent features, over a solid 4:4 beat. The slight creak in June’s voice is perfect for the song, sufficient to near forget the mellifluence of the original.

“Godspeed” is a song I know less well, needing redress to the Frank Ocean original. Once again I find myself surprised by how well his songs transcribe to a lower key vibe, much as with Cat Power’s version of “Bad Religion” from the top of the year. June’s tone is now a turn of the dial into soulful, and dialled high too, a slightly smoother Macy Gray. Sherman is showing himself the consummate accompanist.

Imagine if “Imagine” could sound new and spicy in her hands? Well, she takes a good crack, but I fear the song itself is just too deeply etched into ubiquity. Here, it comes across as not so much a misstep as a flawed choice. Which is a shame. But the less well known, by comparison, swampy blues of Joe South’s “Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home” cuts through any lingering frowns, with an uplifting N’Awlins style iteration. Just as you think it needs a flute solo, bingo, it’s there, courtesy Hope Clayburn. The understated brass all gives it a joyful feel; It reminds me, voice apart, of early Van or Jesse Colin Young. Terrific.

There’s Dylan. Here, it’s a bluesy take on “Tonight, I’ll Be Staying Here With You,” a riot of her increasingly confident vocal, stretching out, and the slide-like steel of Lead. Again, as with “Fade Into You,” June finds some some wickedness in her delivery. This is no statement of being besotted. In fact, she may not even be there in the morning

“Under Cover‘s” last song, fast becoming a standard in its own right, is “Into My Arms,” Nick Cave’s paean of devotion. I worried this may fall into the “Imagine” trap, but no. June tackles it straight, much as the original, with just piano and organ, the contrast being her cracked alto over Cave’s lugubrious baritone. It’s as good a version I have heard, which includes the Shelby Lynne/Allison Moorer, hitherto deemed the pinnacle.

The vigilant will be swift to note that not all these are first-time outings. June included “Pink Moon” and “Imagine” on the deluxe edition of her last studio album. (To be fair, having heard her “Imagine” back then, my hopes for this were significantly lower.) Likewise, she released “Tonight etc” as an Amazon original, and “Fade Into You” was an earlier single, an advance taster for the whole project. Such quibbles around duplication aside, “Under Cover” is a first-class collection, a masterclass miscellany of sources that continue to beg quite where you file it. Under “Good Music” would seem to me to be just about right.

released August 26th, 2022